"You..."
The demon's body, along with his head, turned into a pool of muck.
Only a pair of wide-open eyes remained.
Death with open eyes.
But after a moment, even the eyes were gone.
For the sake of so-called immortality, they did not hesitate to turn themselves into evil creatures!
Lu Fei felt a surge of dread in his heart.
"Little Taoist, hold on, don't fall asleep!" Hu Zi held Little Liu, shouting anxiously, "Boss, come quickly! The little Taoist is in bad shape..."
Lu Fei hurried over and crouched down to check on Little Liu's condition.
Little Liu was coughing violently, unable to stop vomiting, spewing out large clumps of black flesh.
After he finished vomiting, Lu Fei quickly had Hu Zi carry him on his back.
"Hold on, we're taking you to the hospital right away!"
"It's no use..."
Xiao Liu gently shook his head, though weak, there was an unprecedented ease in his eyes.
"Finally, I don't have to live in constant fear every day... I'm happy... Don't tell my senior brothers, just say I went to a place I like first..."
"Little Taoist, you're so silly! Why didn't you tell us about the spices earlier?" Hu Zi's eyes were red.
Xiao Liu gently shook his head, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "With that piece of flesh in my body, I found out that the demon could know whatever we said... I could only pretend..."
Lu Fei felt a mix of emotions in his heart.
This was a smart child; if he could have gone to school and worked like a normal person, he would surely have lived a good life. Unfortunately, fate was too unfair.
His body had withered to this extent, and it was already beyond saving.
"Big brothers, I beg you for one last thing... take me out and bury me far away, I don't want to die here... don't tell my senior brothers that I'm dead..."
Xiao Liu begged weakly.
Lu Fei said ruthlessly, "I can't help you with this. If you want to say something, go and say it yourself..."
"Xiao Liu!"
Just at that moment.
A trembling voice came from outside the door.
Lu Fei was taken aback and turned to look.
The other two young Taoist priests had somehow arrived; their heads were wrapped in bandages, and there were remnants of black blood on their clothes and around their mouths. They looked at Xiao Liu with disbelief.
"Xiao Liu, you fool!"
The two staggered into the kitchen, threw themselves in front of their junior brother, and burst into tears.
"Senior Brother, I have to go first..."
Satisfied to see his senior brothers one last time before he died, Xiao Liu closed his eyes.
"Xiao Liu..."
The two embraced their withered and emaciated junior brother, wailing loudly.
Lu Fei turned away, secretly wiping his eyes.
The small black dog leaned against his leg, whimpering in sorrow.
Hu Zi's tears flowed profusely, his nose running as well.
...
A raging fire was lit in the courtyard of Lingyun Temple.
Everything related to the demonic Taoist was burned to ashes.
Under the light of the flames.
The two young Taoists stood in silence, their youthful faces bearing a weariness beyond their years.
Their junior brother's body was wrapped in a clean sheet, and they were going to take him away from this place of sin.
"Wait, take this with you."
Lu Fei took out a bundle, which contained the money he had collected from Lingyun Temple.
The two young monks looked at each other and firmly shook their heads.
"We don't want this dirty money! We have our hands and feet, we can support ourselves."
"You are good boys with ambition! But instead of burning this money, why not use it to help those in need, whether orphans or poor children? Wouldn't that be more meaningful?"
Lu Fei smiled.
The two were slightly taken aback and, after a moment's hesitation, finally accepted the money.
"Thank you!"
The two bowed deeply to Lu Fei, carried the corpse, and walked into the night.
Watching their figures fade into the distance, Lu Fei felt a mix of emotions.
If it weren't for the encounter with the demonic Taoist, they would have lived an ordinary but peaceful life.
"May you have a bright future!"
Before leaving the Spirit Cloud Temple, Lu Fei remembered the flesh lump they had hidden and hurried over to check on it.
Sure enough.
The flesh in the rice bin had also turned into blood water.
Huzi poured out the blood water, full of disgust.
"It's really a harmful thing! What immortality? It's just using others' lives to prolong your own!"
"Huzi, you're right. Where in the world is there true immortality? This is not a natural Taisui, but an evil object refined by human hands! Some heretics will go to any lengths, even harming the innocent, for their cultivation."
"But in the end, those who do evil with such objects don't have good outcomes; they harm both others and themselves!"
Lu Fei shook his head.
The seasoning was actually bone powder, and he speculated it was from the old Daoist's bones.
Using his bones to avenge his flesh and blood.
Does this count as, in another sense, using the original soup to nourish the original food?
With Hu Zi, he tidied everything up and prepared to leave.
When he turned around, he inadvertently saw a few small shadows resembling young Daoists outside the Daoist temple, slightly bowing to him before disappearing.
Immediately, another surge of strength filled his dantian.
"Are they the orphans who were murdered?"
Lu Fei was slightly taken aback, but then a warm feeling arose in his heart.
"Thank you too..."
The next day.
Lu Fei rushed to Zhihao's home to give an account to Zhihao's parents.
However, he didn't mention the incident at Lingyun Temple; he only said that Zhihao had encountered some unclean spirits on the mountain.
He had already eliminated the unclean spirits, avenging Zhihao.
Sometimes, lies are told with good intentions.
Saying too much would only add to the worries of the elderly couple.
Then, Lu Fei asked them to follow the rules of Sinisterium Pawnshop and treat the flesh-like lingzhi as a pawn to him.
Although the evil entity was already destroyed, the formalities still needed to be observed.
The terms of the pawn were not important since it was a dead pawn.
The old couple, extremely grateful, took out a red envelope to thank Lu Fei.
"Manager Lu, our family doesn't have much money, but we must give what is due! The amount isn't much, but it represents our gratitude. We hope you won't find it insufficient."
"Uncle and Aunt, there's no need for that. You've already pawned the evil object to me, which is enough..."
Lu Fei had already gained merit this time, something that could not be bought with any amount of money.
He looked at the pawn ticket, suddenly pausing, lost in thought.
Perhaps, this is the meaning of the existence of the Sinisterium Pawnshop?
In this world, not everyone has the ability to spend a large sum of money to hire so-called masters to eliminate disasters and solve problems for them.
More often, they are ordinary people like this.
So what should they do when they encounter evil objects?
Subsequently, Aunt Dong fulfilled her promise, performed the Rice Divination, and invited Zhihao's spirit back to reunite with his parents.
Lu Fei was very curious about this folk ritual and observed from the side.
Is inviting a spirit up from below also considered a form of Necromancy?
The shaman, Aunt Dong, asked the elderly couple to close the doors and windows tightly. Then she lit incense and burnt paper, sat cross-legged on the sofa, muttered some incantations, and then threw a handful of rice out.
Afterwards, her body convulsed as if electrified and then suddenly stopped.
The elderly couple waited anxiously for a moment.
"Dad, Mom, are you alright?" Aunt Dong, with her eyes closed and mouth open, spoke in the voice of a young boy.
The elderly couple were startled and opened their eyes wide in excitement.
"Zhihao! Is that you, Zhihao?"
"Dad, Mom, it's me. I've come back to see you," Aunt Dong replied.
Lu Fei scrutinized her intently, but to his surprise, he did not detect any negative energy from Aunt Dong.